United States Naval AcademyTHE
NAVAL ACADEMY AND ANNAPOLIS: PART
1: The
Beaux Arts design of the Naval Academy is the aesthetic polar opposite of
the Baroque urban plan of Annapolis. The Academy has monumental axial
symmetry, rigidly composed buildings presenting uniformity of purpose and
institutional clarity. The town has charming irregularity, picturesque
idiosyncrasy and the messy vitality of over 300 years of human occupancy.
The fact that these two contrasting built environments share the same
peninsula of land surrounded by waters of the Chesapeake Bay is just one
more example of the architectural richness of Annapolis. Sir Francis Nicholson designed the street plan of Annapolis in 1694. He placed the State House Circle and Church Circle on natural high ground and worked with the existing topography to create the radiating streets in a fluid Baroque composition. Architect Earnest Flagg took an entirely different approach in designing the all new campus plan for the Academy in 1902. Flagg used design principles of the French Beaux Arts found in the Les Invalides military complex in Paris. Buildings are arranged in precise axial symmetry, and organized in the hierarchy of importance. Topography is graded to eliminate natural irregularities and is shaped to reinforce organizational rank. Flagg was given a clean slate for the new Academy campus plan and he designed all of the primary buildings in it.
Unfortunately
a significant part of Flagg’s design has been lost. The boat basin was
large enough to be used for training and grand enough for ceremonial
presentations. The twin beacons at the mouth of the basin would have
created a dramatic naval entrance opposite the Chapel dome. The view from
the sloping quadrangle to the basin and beyond to the Severn River would
have been a constant reminder that schooling on the land was only a
preamble to Naval duty. Tragically
the boat basin has been demolished. The removal of the horizontal
reflecting water plane diminishes the vertical spiritual dome of the
Chapel, and the quadrangle lost contact with the high seas. The basin was
filled in and replaced with mediocre 1960’s classroom buildings and a
sports field. While
the Beaux Arts design of the Academy contrasts with the Baroque plan of
Annapolis, architect Ernest Flagg sensitively and deliberately connected
the two. The major streets defining the campus quadrangle align with
Nicholson’s Annapolis streets. The main gate to the campus is at
Maryland Avenue, a primary street radiating from the important State
Circle. Gate 2 aligns with Martin Street. Both of these Academy gates
offer iconic views back to Annapolis: the majestic State House Dome of
1779; and the tall chimneys of the James Brice House built in 1773. These
views back to town are picturesque and romantic. The Brice house is a most
lovely oblique silhouette. The State House Dome is slightly off center
with the axis of Maryland Avenue. These irregularities and idiosyncrasies
define the town’s charm. Flagg thoughtfully captured their views back
into the walled confines of his campus. There
are the two great traditions in architecture: one embraces the natural,
sublime and picturesque; the other embraces the order and mores of the
classical. Both traditions are exuberantly expressed here in Annapolis. PART
2: The United States
Naval Academy is an extremely rare example of multiple buildings and
their setting, all designed in the American Beaux Arts style. New York
architect Ernest Flagg designed the campus and all the buildings
surrounding the quadrangle in 1902. The architectural design principles of
the Beaux Arts contrast sharply with the Baroque concepts used by Sir
Francis Nicholson when he designed the town plan of Annapolis in 1694. American
architecture between 1890 and 1920 was dominated by the buildings of
architects schooled in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. The historic
U.S. Naval Academy campus is the perfect place to experience the stylistic
features of American Beaux Arts architecture. The buildings have strict
symmetrical lines centered on the front entrance, deeply grooved masonry,
main entrance elevated above the ground, and architectural elements
referring to the Roman Empire. The creative use of lush decorative trims,
moldings, cornices, and other highly detailed architectural features are
fully integrated into the architectural composition, not added on later as
afterthoughts. The
impact of French architectural education on American building cannot be
overstated. The New York Public Library, Grand Central Station, the
Library of Congress, Union Station in Washington D.C. and Penn Station in
Baltimore are just a few buildings designed by Ecole trained architects.
The Chicago Columbia Exposition of 1892, the world’s fair of its day,
began the nationally popular run of American Beaux Arts architecture that
lasted until the Great Depression of 1929. Formal
training for architects in America was not available until the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology opened a program in 1865. Most
architects learned the art by apprenticeship or mastering a building
trade. The finest architectural school in the world during the nineteenth
century was the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In 1846 Richard Morris Hunt
became the first American to attend the school. Hunt was an extremely
successful architect, designing the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New
York, the Breakers and Marble House mansions in Newport, Rhode Island, and
the Biltmore estate for the Vanderbilt family. The first wave of American
architects trained at the Ecole included Henry Hobson Richardson and Charles
McKim of McKim Mead and White, among many others. The second wave included
every American architectural candidate that aspired to first tier status
in the profession. Among the second wave was Louis Sullivan of Chicago,
and Annapolitan architect T. Henry Randall (1862-1905) who worked for
McKim Mead & White and then opened his own office in New York. Earnest
Flagg attended the Ecole from 1889 to 1891. He was devoted to Ecole
architectural principles his entire career, which culminated in the design
of the buildings and campus of the Naval Academy. Many Beaux Arts buildings remain throughout the country, but only a few examples of Beaux Arts urban planning survive. The Chicago Columbia Exposition plan was a tour de force in Beaux Arts urban planning. Monumental with broad vistas to symmetrical buildings; it created a popular sensation and inspired the City Beautiful movement. The Exposition buildings were destroyed, as planned, shortly after the fair closed. An excellent existing example of grand scale Beaux Arts city planning is the National Mall in Washington D.C., which was redesigned in 1901 by architect Charles McKim. The U.S. Naval Academy campus remains a rare environment with multiple buildings and urban planning using Beaux Arts architectural principles.
The
main entrance façade of Bancroft Hall faces the park-like quadrangle, and
is directly aligned with the entrance of Mahan Hall. Beaux Arts architects
were well trained in the creation of architectural ornamentation. Note the
battle ships plowing out of the Bancroft Hall roof parapets. This
ornamentation is not a slavish copy of classical architectural details,
but a wholly unique creation explicit to this building. Beaux
Arts architects were also trained to create specific unique floor plans
for the building functions. They itemized the needs of the users,
identified functional adjacencies, and applied principles of circulation
to create distinctive site specific floor plans intended to function
practically and efficiently. While all of Flagg’s Naval Academy
buildings have been modified or expanded, the original primary interior
spaces are intact, and continue to function with efficient grace.
In the original 1908 construction, the Chapel dome was sheathed in highly ornate glazed terracotta with naval military symbols. Flagg warned the contractors of their failure to provide proper waterproofing for the dome. This resulted in the eventual failure of the terracotta ornament, and its replacement with the copper roofing we see today. The U.S. Naval Academy Chapel is a masterpiece of American Beaux Arts architecture. Flagg placed it on the highest ground and central to the entire campus composition. The dome is based on the design of the 1708 Royal Chapel at Les Invalides in Paris; designed by architect Hardouin Mansart. There are two very interesting parallels here: the Royal Chapel contains the 1840 bombastic imperial burial site of Napoleon while the Naval Chapel contains the crypt of John Paul Jones, father of the American Navy. Jones’ crypt was built in 1913 with a design inspired by Napoleon’s tomb, much more modest but still impressive. The second parallel: the Baroque Royal Chapel was designed and built at the same time that Nicholson designed and built the Baroque urban plan of Annapolis. This is further evidence of how au courant the Annapolis town plan was in the world in 1694. |
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